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"LETS... VOLT... IN!!!"
Voltes V (formally, 超電磁マシーン ボルテスV or Choudenji (Super Electromagnetic) Machine Voltes Five) is the second of Tadao Nagahama's "Romantic Trilogy" of Super Robot series, premiering in 1977. As with predecessor Combattler V, the "V" is for the Combining Mecha's five constituents, their five pilots, and the traditional V for Victory.
Considerably Darker and Edgier than Combattler V, Voltes V chronicles the Voltes Team and Camp Big Falcon's defense of Earth from the invading Boazanian Empire, Beast Fighter by Beast Fighter, as well as a simmering civil war within planet Boazan itself, long under the brutal caste-system rule of Emperor Zu Zambajil, between the horned elite and the hornless commoners. In this environment a young man named Kenichi Go, his younger brothers Daijirou and Hiyoshi, and their companions Ippei Mine and Megumi Ouka get become the members of the Voltes Team and, under the watch of Professor Hamaguchi and Megumi's dad General Oka, fight in Voltes V to protect Earth... and in the process, they learn how the brothers' family is mysteriously linked to Boazan...
It may come as a surprise (or not) that Yoshiyuki Tomino was involved in making this anime.
In December 2019, a live-action remake by the Filipino network GMA 7 Network was announced. It had to be delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020, but it will be definitely released in 2023.
Tropes used in Voltes V include:
- Acrofatic: General Oka. Justified, he's from a clan of ninjas after all.
- Affirmative Action Girl: Megumi
- Anyone Can Die: And they do.
- Arm Cannon: Voltes Bazooka, which flips a hand down to protrude a scaled-up revolver from the forearm.
- Attack of the Killer Whatever: The Beast Fighters are really earth animals that the Boazanians turned into giant robots.
- Award Bait Song: The end theme "Looking For Father". And we wonder who is the "father" they are searching for.
- Badass Normal: The titular Voltes V compared to other Super Robots like GoLion/Voltron, Gigantor, and others. That is, if you don't count the fact that Voltes can apparently summon lightning for the Choudenji Ball regardless of the weather...
- Banned in the Philippines: Under Ferdinand Marcos, citing its brutal violence. Critics of his regime think otherwise, claiming the ban was a response to the show's focus on Boazan's totalitarianism, of which Marcos is frequently accused of. The show proved popular enough that it resumed airing since 1999, and has been in many more re-dubs and airings ever since. Heck, the live-action remake is by a Filipino network!
- Barehanded Blade Block: The Butterfly Returns
- Battle Tops: The Ultraelectromagnetic Top attack.
- BFG/Arm Cannon: Voltes Bazooka
- BFS: TEN KUU KEN! Plus points goes to this BFS for being able to hide its blade into Hammerspace. Its hilt, however, is collapsible.
- Bittersweet Ending: Earth is spared, Boazan is finally freed from Zambajil's iron grip, and the Gou brothers are finally reunited with their father LaGour/Kentaro, but their older half-brother Heinel is dead and LaGour chose to stay behind in Boazan, instead of going to Earth with his sons, to help rebuild it from scratch.
- Blond Guys Are Evil: Prince Heinel, although Emperor Zambajil might be more qualified for this type.
- Calling Your Attacks: Half of Voltes's weaponry works like this.
- Catch Phrase: "LETS... VOLT... IN!!!"
- Character Development: The characters are somewhat more fleshed-out than in the standard Super Robot show.
- Chest Blaster: Voltes Laser and Choudenji Wave. Further down is the Grand Fire. (No, not THAT further down.
- Combining Mecha
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to Combattler V, but not to extremes otherwise prevalent during the Super Robot Boom of the 70s. Mostly because, while still being a Super Robot series as its core, it touched themes like racism, orphanhood, war vs peace, caste systems, etc.
- Interestingly enough, Yoshiyuki Tomino himself was involved in making this anime. Foreshadowing, perhaps?
- Dirty Coward: Emperor Zambajil. He kicked the legitimate heir, LaGour, out of Boazan for simply being a hornless nobleman, held Boazan in an iron grip with a Fantastic Caste System, and manipulated LaGour's first son Heinel into becoming his pawn, yet he's quick to bail out once the Voltes Team finally reach Boazan, the hornless Boazanians are turning the tide of the civil war in their favor, and Heinel discovers his true heritage. It's worth noting that the Big Bads of the other Romantics, for all their vileness, have at least some dignity.
- Energy Ball: Choudenji Ball
- Everything's Better with Spinning: The "spin-fly" technique.
- Expository Theme Tune: Its song names several of the weapons it has while showing them on screen. And the closing theme tune talks about how the Go brothers are searching for their missing father.
- Fantastic Caste System: Born on Boazan and got horns sticking out? No? Then prepare for a life of pariah-esque slavery supporting the planet's thriving galactic tourism industry. Or exile beyond the ruling class's clutches, as in LaGour/Kentarou Gou's case.)
- Fantastic Racism: One of the few Super Robot shows of the 70s that deal with this.
- Finger Firearms: Voltes V's Finger Missiles
- Finishing Move: Regular and Choudenji Ball flavors of the V-no-Jigiri.
- Five-Man Band: The pilots, in order by Volt Machine altitude on combination
- Kenichi Gou : The Hero, marksman and Motocross champion.
- Ippei Mine : The Lancer, orphaned rodeo champion.
- Daijiro Gou : The Big Guy, defense tactician and hand-to-hand combat ace.
- Hiyoshi Gou : The Smart Guy, roboticist and swimming and diving ace.
- Megumi Oka : The Chick, 18th-generation Ninja and expert diplomat.
- Five-Bad Band
- Zambajil: The Big Bad
- Heinel: The Dragon
- Katherine: The Dark Chick
- Jangal: The Brute
- Zuhl: The Evil Genius
- Bergan: The Sixth Ranger (after Zuhl was killed)/ The Starscream
- Flying Brick: Apparently trying to outdo Combattler: "You'll never beat this 600-ton Voltes!"
- Half-Human Hybrid: The Gou brothers, on account of their father is a defecting Boazanian noble.
- Home Base: Camp Big Falcon, which is basically Mission Control set up on a bird-shaped island. It turns out that the whole island is actually a gigantic, bird-shaped Cool Starship in disguise, capable of traveling space warps in order to bring the fight onto Boazan's doorsteps.
- Horned Humanoid: The Boazans.
- Human Aliens: The only real difference is that the privileged of the Boazanians have horns.
- Humiliation Conga: Let's see... Heinel was betrayed by the emperor he loyally served, his subordinates are killed, finds out he was pitted against his father and brothers, and finally dies. Yeah, serves him right.
- If It Swims, It Flies: Volt Frigate, the machine forms the legs of Voltes V, also is able to fly and swim.
- Improbable Weapon User: Only because the Choudenji Tops and the Choudenji Strings that launch them don't quite fit under Killer Yoyo.
- Kill It with Fire: Grand Fire.
- Latex Space Suit: The pilot suits.
- Lightning Can Do Anything: It charges up the Finishing Move for one.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: LaGour/Kentarou is Prince Heinel's father from his deceased first (horned Boazanian) wife.
- Which also makes Heinel the Cain to Kenichi's (also, to a lesser extent, Daijiro and Hiyoshi) Abel. Unlike most cases of said trope, they have much in common, personality-wise.
- Monster of the Week: Duh.
- Mysterious Protector: They were being helped by someone flying in a jet shaped like a hawk in later episodes. It's a friend of Prof. Gou.
- Redshirt Army: Camp Big Falcon personnel.
- Robeast: The Beast Fighters.
- Robot Buddy: Hiyoshi's "Tako-Chan."
- Schizo-Tech: The Boazanians managed to develop sub-lightspeed spaceship drives but were unable to apply the technology elsewhere, hence the use of Battle Beasts and atomic/nuclear conventional weaponry. They also retain their medieval culture, pimped-out dresses, and a Fantastic Caste System that'd make slavery look humane.
- Simple Staff: Daijiro's weapon of choice is a bo.
- The Starscream: Zuhl. He fails, though, and gets executed for it.
- Super Robot
- Super Robot Wars: Premiered in Shin and tag-teamed with Combattler V ever since. It also appeared in the Alpha series, Advance, Reversal and Judgement. Slated to appear with Combattler once again in L.
- Takarazuka: Believe it or not, Heinel's overall look is inspired by this.
- Telescoping Robot: Its belt was in reality two whips, its midsection stored a spinning top, the ornament on its chest hid his sword's blade...
- Training From Hell: The Spin Fly Formation.
- Transformation Name Announcement: VOOLTEEEESSSS FIIIVEEE!!!!!. Followed by extending arms to form a "V" and an Asskicking Pose.
- Villainous BSOD/Despair Event Horizon: Heinel went through these when he found out LaGour/Kentarou Gou was his real father, the Gou brothers were his younger half-brothers, Zambajil is just an usurping bastard, and one could only guess what happened next.
- What Is This Thing You Call Love?: In one episode the Boazanians are gobsmacked to find out Earth people have the capacity to love; which was part of their Fantastic Racism.
- Whip It Good: Ippei, being an ex-cowboy, has a whip. Choudenji Strings are sometimes used to punish an enemy that manages to destroy the Choudenji Goma.
- Worthy Opponent: Prince Heinel; played for all its tragic worth. To a lesser extent, the Boazanian giant Gilligan.
- X Meets Y: Combattler V meets Hamlet, though it's not apparent at first.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Megumi, to a degree. Her mother is a full-fledged one, though, thus Megumi was able to fight and wear kimonos with equal ease.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle: This happens a lot to Prof. Gou. It's actually one of the devices that keep the story running.
- Zettai Ryouiki: When suited-up, Megumi uses the miniskirt + boots version.